Tinker all they want, just when they want
ON a recent Wednesday afternoon, Isabella Johns, 6, and her mother, Elaine, sit side by side at a low table, affixing a line of tiny white pompoms to the bottom edge of a felt crown. Faux jewels and bead accents follow. Nearby, Ava Dobbs, 5, fashions a box out of popsicle sticks. At another table, Sam Gottlieb, 4, carefully applies royal blue tape to the edges of a cardboard drink tray, while Samantha Harnick, also 4, draws on a canvas hand puppet.
All these projects come to fruition at Tinker, a 5-month-old studio in Sherman Oaks where parents or grandparents or nannies and their charges can drop in five days a week to create something as simple as a handmade birthday card or as elaborate as a papier- mache hot-air balloon. Tinker also offers an array of classes with names such as “Future Fashion Gurus” and “Drawzapalooza.” But it’s the drop-in option that distinguishes it from other spots such as Creative Space in Hollywood, which has scheduled classes and programs, or the newish Play Cafe in Los Angeles, which does offer what they call “messy art” for parents and their young children but only at set times three days a week.
Tinker was started by two former art students, Brad and Leeanna Gantt. It was their art school experience, in fact, that served, at least in part, as inspiration for the business.
“We loved the atmosphere of art school,” says Brad, 38, “the idea of being around other people doing interesting things.”
Leeanna’s art projects with their now-5-year-old daughter, Riley -- endeavors that took over the dining room table, which meant eating dinner on the living room floor -- also played a part. “My husband was, like, isn’t there somewhere else you can do this?” recalls Leeanna, 35. “And I was, like, no, there’s not.”
The 2,500-square-foot studio is filled with examples of completed projects: stamped T-shirts, ribbon mobiles, a snake fashioned from a man’s tie, decorated wood birdhouses, painted plastic bracelets and rings, and colorful garden pinwheels. A cadre of spirited young staff members is on hand to assist in transforming bare-bones products into something any grandparent would be proud to display. There are jars filled with items such as dried flowers, metal hearts, tiny dominoes, silver bells, silk butterflies and seashells.
All these things come with a charge: $19 for a birdhouse, for example, one of the pricier items; 20 cents for a seashell. It is easy to see how quickly one’s tab could get out of control. But Tinker also offers a variety of “recycled” items, as well as a “collage cart” filled with containers of feathers, beads, buttons, tiny felt letters, sequins and such. All of these are free. The only cost is the hourly charge of $5 per creator. Guardians helping their kids are not charged.
For the parents of older children who require less supervision, there is a waiting room stocked with magazines. But many parents bring their own reading, says Brad, who has noticed quite a few scripts. Still others can’t resist the call of cardboard and paint, or at least the opportunity to watch their budding Hockneys at work.
“There’s a real emphasis on the process as opposed to every time you come, you have to leave with a thing that you did,” Brad says.
That emphasis might be lost on most of Tinker’s biggest fans, who are easily captivated by the displays of ceramic piggy banks, plastic capes and wood snakes ready for their personalized touch. But the staff does a good job of getting the kids excited about simpler projects. Parents need not worry about an aggressive product push. Splattered paint and glue accidents, on the other hand, are common.
Leeanna’s advice: “Be prepared to be messy.”
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Leslee Komaiko may be reached at weekend@latimes.com.
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Tinker
Where: 4337 Woodman Ave., Sherman Oaks
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays
Price: $5 per child per hour, plus materials.
Info: (818) 784-7991 or www.tinkertinker.com
